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According to a report from the Center for Public Integrity, an unreleased document in the White House indicates 18 states need to return to strict COVID-19 lockdowns. The report cites a document prepared for the White House Coronavirus Task Force that was not shared with the public. In it, the 18 states indicated have had more than 100 new cases per 100,000 population in the past week.
This means that they’re in what epidemiologists have called “the Red Zone”. Under CDC guidelines, this would indicate those states need to limit social gatherings to ten or less people, close bars and gyms, and institute mask requirements in public. In effect, these states are now in a worse position than they were at the start of the pandemic four months ago.
The US has largely bungled its COVID-19 response, according to some pundits. Other countries in regions like Western Europe and Southeast Asia, as well as Oceania, have largely stopped the spread of the virus within their own borders. The US, however, remains the epicenter for the virus globally. A lack of a concerted national effort to stem the spread, compounded with lax regulations on large gatherings and businesses, has allowed the virus to continue to spread unimpeded in some states.
While the lockdown efforts of March and April were lengthy and taxing for businesses, experts now fear they didn’t last long enough. The US, by refusing to commit to one strategy or another, may have allowed the pandemic to linger even longer. Some epidemiologists now fear that the novel coronavirus will become endemic to the US.
This would mean that COVID-19 would simply be another aspect of daily life. If that sounds unthinkable, think again. Without a vaccine, which is no guarantee, there is a distinct possibility that America simply becomes a hotbed of COVID with no way out.
The best option now is to simply go home and stay there as much as you can. Use cloud storage solutions to download your favorite games or movies, get a bunch of supplies, and only go out when you have to. Wear a mask when in public. Even if bars and restaurants are open in your area, try to avoid them.
The US is now worse off than being back at square one. America is behind where it started in March, with even more ahead of us than behind us. It’s going to be a long Fall and Winter. For now, we can simply keep social distancing and hope that a vaccine is on the way.
